Underscore’s own Sal Licata joined Jimmy today for their weekly Friday hang and they had a lot to say as usual. The two covered the MLB playoffs, NFL Week 4, the Padres, a new HBO documentary and more.
Rays Series Looms as the Wild-Card Format Takes Heat
The Yankees beat the Red Sox without Aaron Judge, but Jimmy isn’t ready to hand out praise.
Can we calm down? Beat the Rays, and then I’ll give people credit.
Sal counters by asking whether the hype is really about how the Yankees have played, which he calls almost two perfect games. Jimmy says they need to do it against the Rays. Sal agrees Tampa Bay is a tougher test than Boston.
Jimmy expects a scrappy series. He says Yankees fans counting on a sweep are in for a brutal one, because the Rays will be fired up to beat the Yankees, and “it’s not going to be a pushover like the Yankee fan thinks.”
The World Series picks split along team lines. Jimmy, a self-described Yankee fan, is backing the Yankees, and the White Sox only if they fall to the Rays. With no team left in the playoffs, Sal is backing the Padres, and he’s picking the Yankees over the Rays in four.
I can’t root for the Yankees. The Padres atmosphere has been insane. They’ve never won.
MLB’s own mess hangs over the round. The Braves and Phillies didn’t know until about 1 a.m. whether Game 3 would start at 2 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET. Jimmy calls it amateurish and says the best-of-three format is a waste that has produced no drama. A one-game, winner-take-all round would at least fix that, since “the drama would be automatically built in if it were one game elimination.” Asked for the real fix, he says there would be no wild card at all.
Dennis Miller Back on Monday Night Football? The Documentary Makes the Case
Jimmy didn’t like Dennis Miller’s Monday Night Football stint in the 2000s. After watching HBO Max’s new 45-minute documentary on the comedian’s foray into sports broadcasting, Miller Night Football, he’d love to have him back in the booth.
I wish Dennis Miller would do Monday Night Football again… the clips they played were beyond hysterical.
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